Things got a little heated between "Top Chef" star Padma Lakshmi and Phil Keoghan at last night's Emmy Awards. Lakshmi admitted that she smacked Keoghan, 43, prior to the ceremony - but it was all in the name of fun.

"I thought 'Amazing Race' was going to win again," Lakshmi said, referring to the reality adventure series' seven-year winning streak. "In fact," she joked, "I was really, really mean to the host on the red carpet. I think I hit him twice with my purse!"

Thankfully, the cookbook author and former model didn't have to pull out the knives: "Top Chef" ended up taking home the Emmy in the outstanding reality-competition category.

Boasted Lakshmi, who turns 40 on September 1, "I told him I was taking him down, and guess what, I was right!"

Editor’s Note: This post contains spoilers for the Sunday, August 29 episode of HBO’s “True Blood.”

Welcome back, "True Blood" fans. The bulk of last night’s episode was devoted to setting up the season finale and, if we’re lucky, plotlines for the fourth season that already feels like a lifetime away.

Fresh off their inaugural V trip, Jesus was eager to once again fall down the rabbit hole with Lafayette to further explore their magical lineage. Lafayette warned Jesus that V could be deceptive, and shortly after had a hallucination of Jesus resembling the main attraction of the Jim Rose Circus.

Shaken, he sent Jesus home only to later be tormented by visions of characters from the Island of Misfit Folk Art Dolls. Methinks something wicked is coming Lafayette’s way and I. Can’t. Wait.

It’s only been three weeks since we congratulated Amy Poehler on the birth of her son, Abel, but the mom of two still showed up on the Emmys red carpet last night alongside husband Will Arnett looking noticeably fabulous.

Poehler, who was nominated for a best actress in a comedy Emmy her work on “Parks and Recreation,” rocked a Max Azria dress and $500,000 worth of Stephen Russell jewelry to show off her post-baby glow.

To top it off, the 38-year-old actress and her husband were celebrating their seventh wedding anniversary Sunday, although the "Baby Mama" star did admit that she didn't get any copper or wool, which are the traditional gifts to mark the milestone.

"American Idol" executive producer Nigel Lythgoe is blaming Simon Cowell for Ellen DeGeneres's exit, claiming the talk-show host departed because she and the cranky Brit just weren't in tune.

"I'm sorry she's gone, to be honest with you," Lythgoe told Deadline.com, "because I think there's a place for Ellen DeGeneres on 'American Idol.' And that is being the voice of the people. She wasn't given a fair opportunity to serve that function. Ellen was constantly apologizing and overwhelmed, I think, by Simon."

According to Lythgoe, the 52-year-old comedian - who asked to be let out of her "Idol" contract a year before it expired - just didn't have chemistry with Cowell, 50, and fellow judges Randy Jackson, 54, and Kara DioGuardi, 39, though Lythgoe said it wasn't DeGeneres's fault. "She was misused," he explained. "And I'm sorry that turned out to be the case."